To the Editor:
Mrs. Fucci (D-Majority Leader MBOE), I want to thank you for your Letter to the Editor dated Oct. 29, 2014. It confirms the thoughts and feelings of many people in the community. People like Kathy Elison who stated the low attendance at the public information session was simply because the board does not really seek the input from the community: The decisions have already been made.
Also, Donna Iaffaldino, who stated the parents do care; however, they feel as if they are not being heard, and Bob Young, who said he asked the board to make their decision for the betterment of kids and not to make this political, and Mrs. Boehm who stated (Mrs. Boehm served on the LRP Committee) that she feels the time was completely wasted: Her voice did not mean anything. The committee never once mentioned the closing of Harborside. She is embarrassed to say that she was on the committee.
Spread throughout the minutes from the Oct. 13 BOE meeting there were similar statements to those above plus an overwhelming opposition to the closing of Harborside.
This has nothing to do about politics, it has everything to do about our children’s future, the quality of the education and the reputation of the City of Milford.
When are the Democrat and Republican members of the BOE going to check their politics at the door, listen to their constituents and drive positive change to our struggling school system? Keep in mind, Mrs. Fucci, you are the one who dealt the Republican vs. the Democrat card here, not Mr. DeRosa. Again your plan has no goals in terms of improving the education.
Without goals you cannot strive to achieve success nor can you put corrective actions in place. Our school district, based on the Connecticut District Performance Report for School Year 2013, did not hit the state goal of 88 for the CMT DPI. In fact, the district did not hit goal in 2009- 2010, 2010-2011 and 2011-2012.
Sadly, 2012 – 2013 showed the lowest performance in the four-year period covered in the data. This is data that potential homeowners look at when deciding to join a community, not the DRG data that Dr. Feser referenced during the BOE meeting on Oct. 13.
A solid long range plan should focus on incremental steps toward academic excellence. It would have real goals based on real numbers.
Perhaps we should look at how a school district like Trumbull (similar number of students) has surpassed the State of Connecticut goal four years in a row. Regardless of the DRG ranking, Trumbull is our competition. Families have left Milford and moved to Trumbull because of our district’s ranking and test scores.
John E. Schuler